Winx Club - Eternal Spark

Chapter 5: Leaving for Hoggar

Having spent two weeks researching what they needed to know about Hoggar and preparing to travel, the Winx were finally set to go to Hoggar to try and find Hagen.

The sun had been up for a few hours now. Running breathlessly through the woods surrounding Alfea, Bloom and Musa were in a daze. It had rained the day before and the ground was so muddy that they almost tripped several times. They could not hear anything but their panting breaths.

At that moment, running full speed through the forest, the two fairies had the exact same thoughts: First, that they had greatly overestimated their endurance, second, that they would soon collapse if they kept running, and third... that they hated Grizelda.

Luckily for them, they didn't have to run for much longer, as they finally landed in the clearing where the other Winx were sitting on moss-covered rocks, patiently waiting for them. Exhausted, the two friends collapsed against a tree trunk to catch their breath. When they finally looked up, the Winx had stood up and were glaring at them with disapproving expressions. Not only were they angry, but they were also dressed in long black cloaks with hoods that covered their faces almost entirely... They looked like the shady members of an even shadier cult, and it didn't help that they were in the middle of the woods.

There was a momentary pause as Musa and Bloom stared, confused as to what they were wearing, before bursting out laughing uncontrollably. One of the hooded figures came hammering towards them, clearly pissed. The figure ripped off its black hood, revealing Stella's blonde hair and angry face.

"Do you know what 'eight o'clock' means, or are you stupid?" She yelled, angry at their lateness and hurt in her ego by their mocking laughter. "We've been waiting in the cold for almost an hour in these hideous capes Tecna found in a rubbish dump and you have the nerve to laugh!"

The two girls stopped laughing in an instant, while Tecna glared at the Sun and Moon Fairy with a look of indignation. These capes had cost her a small fortune, and the woman who had sold them to her had assured her that they were the latest fashion.

"It's not our fault," Musa argued, regaining her seriousness. "Grizelda wouldn't let us go! She refused to believe our story. She spent an entire hour asking us questions about our plans for today as if we were under interrogation! We came running as soon as she finally left us alone."

There was a look of concern on the girls' faces. The mere mention of the school monitor was enough to make their hair stand on end. If Grizelda had any inkling of what was going on, they were in trouble, and so was their mission. They knew her well enough to know that if she found out they were going to Hoggar to look for a supposedly dead man, she would do everything in her power to stop them...and have them clean the school.

"How come?" Tecna asked in utter confusion, raising a suspicious eyebrow. "We went out at different times and in pairs to look less suspicious and to avoid this kind of problem. I had planned this to the last!"

"Bloom and Musa up at eight on a Saturday morning..." Aisha started with a mocking smile on her face. "I would have found that suspicious too. Your perfect plan to avoid suspicion had obvious flaws we should have thought about sooner..."

Musa and Bloom had a two-second look of offence before they looked back at each other and started laughing again. After all, Aisha was right. They had never been early risers, and especially not on weekends. No wonder Grizelda had had doubts.

"Just curious, what did you say to her that made her disbelieve you so much that she had to hold you hostage for an entire hour?" Tecna sighed, her patience having long since reached its limit. "I told her I was spending the day at Magix library, and she didn't ask any more questions..."